


In The Waves

by fictional_scribble



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: &drug sales, AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, F/M, Internalized Homophobia, Lifeguards, M/M, Modern AU, Recreational Drug Use, Slurs, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Surfing, Underage Drinking, idk what else, its a fun fic i swear, just a bunch of wild teens who fall in love, roof tops!!!, they're rebellious teens what can ya do
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-02-19 03:31:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13115082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictional_scribble/pseuds/fictional_scribble
Summary: Eddie has relatively low expectations for the summer before senior year. Two months alone in a beach house, third wheeling his two best friends isn't ideal, but it could definitely be worse. He's expecting to study for the SAT's on the beach, get a nice tan and maybe go to a party or two. He's not expecting three new best friends, late night bonfires or a truck full of weed. Above it all, he's certainly not expecting to fall for the floppy haired lifeguard, Richie Tozier.In which:Bill is an exceptional lightweight.Stan is an excellent ex-lifeguard.Ben is feeling left out.Bev is a rooftop enthusiast.Mike is a god and a vegan.Eddie is sort of falling in love and kind of falling apart.So is Richie.





	1. Chapter 1

This is a story about love, amongst other things. It is the story of the summer in which the losers club came to be. This is the story of how Eddie met Richie, and the story of how they fell in love. But, before any of this there was another love, one that no one had been aware of, save for poor Ben Hanscom. For this story to truly make sense we must go back to the very start of the summer before senior year. In Eddie Kaspbrak's eyes the summer kicked off with one life altering problem, which would soon lead to a dozen more life altering problems. And so it began, as most problems do, with a boy (not the boy you're thinking of, his part in this story will come in time). This boys name was Bill Denbrough and he was a real son of a bitch.

Eddie Kasprak was 17 years old when he realized that his feelings for Bill Denbrough were not at all what one would consider platonic. This realization came at quite an inopportune time, however, so he did what all self respecting 17 year old boys did with their emotions and suppressed them.

* * *

 

"It's not third wheeling if they're not dating, Eddie." The ever sensible voice of Ben Hanscom sighed over the phone.

Eddie was frantically throwing articles of clothing into a bag. His room, which had been relatively neat just moments ago, now looked as if a bomb of pastel polos and khaki shorts exploded everywhere.

"They act like it. They're always hanging out, just the two of them. How else do you explain it?" Eddie snapped at his friend. 

He shuffled around under his bed for his swim trunks, he only had two pairs to last him the entire summer and he was currently missing one of them. "I mean, you're right. We have kinda been split but, I blame school. Stan and Bill both took regular regents classes this year while we took AP's, it made them spend more time together. But, I really don't think they're any closer than they were before...I mean their parents are best friends, Eddie."

Ben was right, as usual. The Uris' and the Denbrough's had been close before Stan and Bill had even been born. The families used to vacation together every summer outside of Derry, at Paradise Beach. They were neighbors in the small beach town, before the Denbrough's sold their vacation home a few years back.

But, that did nothing to calm Eddie down, he was going to spend his whole summer in uncomfortable agony, "Even if they aren't _together_  I'm still gonna feel like a third wheel. Are you sure you can't come today?"

Ben snorted, "Yes, Eddie. The beach is no place for a boy with a broken leg."

Eddie snatched his trunks from a backpack that had gone untouched since last summer, "How many weeks till the cast comes off, again?"  

"Most likely two, but one if I'm lucky. I'm finding out for sure today." Ben sounded a little sad on the other end of the line.

The smaller boy groaned, "Why'd you have to play football? You better heal yourself quickly; I can't go a full two weeks alone with the married couple... I can't believe I let Bill talk me into going."

Ben chuckled, "I'm pretty sure Bill could talk you into robbing a bank with little to no effort."

Similar to any other time where Ben had made an insinuation about his feelings for Bill- Eddie felt his face heat up, "I take it back, Hanscom. May your recovery be long and painful."

Eddie could practically hear Ben smiling on the other end, "Hey, I gotta go. I have the last x-ray soon, so I'll let you know if your wish comes true."

His tone was light, but then he paused, "Eddie...please try to stay sane ok? You and Bill..." Ben trailed off, sounding concerned and Eddie couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach, "It's fine, Ben. It won't be that eventful anyway. Not much can happen in a few weeks." Eddie would soon learn that he had never been more wrong.

"Okay, have fun. Pack sunscreen!" Ben had something else to say. He always did. But, true to form, he kept his insights to himself. It wasn't his place to speak on the matter...not yet, anyway.

* * *

It had taken Eddie several months to convince his mother to let him spend the summer at the Uris' beach house. Sonia Kasprak was not a pushover by any means. In fact, she was incredibly controlling. But, she loved her son. She wanted him to be happy, and he had convinced her that going on vacation with his friends would make him happy.

Sonia had really only allowed her son to go on an unsupervised trip because Stanley Uris was going. In her eyes Stanley Uris was the most responsible 17 year old boy in Derry. If Stanley was supervising, she didn't mind as much that her son was going to spend two months away. As long as he called her every day after he took his medication, Sonia would trust her son to spend the summer with his friends. 

But, she had a selfish wish that he would be overwhelmed. She secretly hoped that Eddie wouldn't enjoy his time away. It was kind of like a test run for college. If he didn't like having so much freedom, he might chose to stay home for college after all.

Eddie knew his mom didn't really want him to leave. And secretly he wished that she might make him stay home. He had spent all that time and energy convincing her to let him leave and he regretted it. That was all before Stan and Bill started acting like a couple. 

He sat in the kitchen, three pill bottles on table in front of him. 

"Make sure you take them every day. All of them."

Eddie nodded, he knew. He only really needed one of them, for anxiety. The rest of them were placebos his mother had forced down his throat since before he could remember. He yelled at her when he found out; she had fooled him into thinking he was sick his entire childhood. Sonia just wanted her son to be safe, and nearly lost her mind at the thought of him without his medication. Despite her craziness, Eddie loved his mother, so he continued to take the placebos, but only when she was watching, just to calm her nerves.

He popped open his anxiety medication and shook out one pill into the palm of his hand. He placed it onto his tongue and gulped it down with water. He twisted the lid back into place and put them in his bag along with the two bottles of placebos. 

"I'm going to miss you, Eddie Bear."

Eddie walked over to her large figure on the recliner, "I know, ma. I'll miss you too. It's only a few weeks, though."

He heart a honk outside and his stomach dropped, "I'll be back before you know it." He bent down and kissed her cheek before swinging his duffle bag over his shoulder.

_I can do this. I can do this. I can do this._

The mantra in his head felt less believable with every step, but he called to his mother anyway, "See you soon! Love you!", and stepped out of the door. 

* * *

Bill Denbrough was a notoriously bad driver and Eddie Kaspbrak didn't even have his license, so that left Stanley Uris behind the wheel for the two hour drive to Paradise Beach. 

Eddie, predictably, was in the back seat. Like a true third wheel, he was half listening to the discussion Stan and Bill were having and half listening to the soft rock playing from the radio.

His eyes, however were trained on Bill's feet. He was wearing converse and they were stationed on the dashboard, causing Eddie to feel a little queasy. He was thinking about the amount of germs Bill was probably transferring. Bill wore those white hightops everywhere, including the muddy quarry. Eddie was struck at first that Stan didn't yell at Bill for dirtying his car. But, he then remembered the difference between himself and Stan.

It was parallel to the difference between cleanliness and neatness.

Eddie wasn't neat; his clothes were always slightly wrinkled and his room was not pristine by any means. But he was a germaphobe, he valued cleanliness above most things. Since a young age he had carried hand sanitizer and a travel sized disinfectant spray, just in case.

Stan was neat; his shirt was always tucked in, his curly hair was somehow always meticulously in place. The slightest amount of disorder made his hands twitch, but he was unfazed by germs. Eddie envied this, because somehow, Stan's OCD lead him to be much more composed than Eddie. 

"Eddie, are you listening?" Bill asked, his feet were no longer on the dashboard but he had left a partial foot print behind.

Eddie snapped his eyes up, to meet Bills, "Sorry, what?"

Stan scoffed and opened the car door, Eddie hadn't even noticed they'd stopped moving, "He asked if you wanted a snack. I need to fill up the tank."

"No, I'm gonna use the rest room, though." Eddie stepped out of the car the same time Bill did.

He ignored the flutter in his chest when Bill looped his arm over his shoulder as they walked, "Hope you know I'm getting you some sour patch watermelons, anyway." 

Eddie smiled, he remembered his favorite candy, "Thanks, Bill." 

He opened the door to the gas station bathroom with caution. He didn't really need it, he just needed some space.

Eddie looked at himself in the mirror and cringed. Truthfully, he was very tired. He didn't sleep much the night prior,he was nervously mulling over everything that could go wrong on his trip. His eyes looked sunken and his skin was pale. He was expecting a good tan once they got to the beach, the lack of color made him look sickly, especially in the shitty bathroom lighting. He splashed some water on his face, once he got back in the car he decided he was going to take a nap.

And thats precisely what he did.

Eddie didn't wake up until Bill shook him awake after Stan had pulled into the garage. 

He noticed that Bill had stocked up on junk food at the gas station. So, he picked up a few grocery bags as they made their way out of the garage.

They walked up the steps in silence, Eddie hadn't been here before, but he quickly realized that it was a small house.

The house was elevated, the garage was below it to minimize any damages if there was flooding. When they reached the top of the wooden steps, they stood on a quaint porch, Eddie took in the view while Stan fiddled with his keys. 

The town was small, he could see down the block there were very few houses and very few stores before the road ended and became what Eddie could only assume was the beach. 

"You seem pretty out of it, Eddie." Stan said as he opened the door, "If you want we don't have to do anything today, we can just lay low."

Eddie shook his head, "I didn't get much sleep last night. But I'm fine. What did you guys have in mind for today?"

The three of them stepped through the threshold and Stan proceeded to take off his shoes. Eddie and Bill followed his lead. The house was, as Eddie had suspected, meticulous. There was an open living room space with a light blue couch, TV and glass coffee table in the center. Behind it was an open kitchen area with white marble everything. 

Eddie and Bill placed the snacks on the counter top, while Stan adjusted the air conditioning. 

"I thought we could go to the beach, meet up with some of my old lifeguard friends. Bill knows them too. They're pretty easy to get along with." Eddie furrowed his brow when Bill laughed. 

Stan smiled knowingly, " _Most_ of them are easy to get along with."

Eddie shrugged as he started to put the snacks in the pantries, "Fine by me. Where should we put our stuff though?"

Suddenly the air in the room became awkward, "Um... there's only my room and my parents room. I was thinking I could share my parents bed with whoever, since its a king, and someone can take my room, my bed is just a twin, though."

He saw Stan's cheeks start to darken while Bill gave him a slight grin.

Eddie could take the hint, "I'm the smallest, so I'll take your room, Stan. Which one is it?"

* * *

"Ben, I swear to God they're dating." Eddie was leaning on the railing of the wrap around porch.

Bill and Stan had shut the door to their room ten minutes ago and not opened it since. In the mean time Eddie had managed to explore the entire house while on the phone with Ben. Not that there was much to explore; there was big space split into a living room, kitchen and sitting area. The sitting area consisted of white wicker furniture and a large cushioned bay window. Next to the window, which fell on the right side of the house, was Eddies new room. On the other side of the living room, to the left were two doors; one was the bathroom which also held the washing machine, and the other Stan and Bill's new honeymoon suite.

Ben sounded downright exasperated, "Are we gonna have this talk for real, Eddie?" 

Eddie suddenly regretted opening his mouth in the first place, "What do you mean? What talk?"

He felt sweat forming in his hairline and blamed it on the heat. Ben let out an awkward sigh, "You sound bitter. I just don't get why it would matter so much if Stan and Bill got together unless..." He trailed off and Eddie knew where this was going. 

Ben had brought it up many times, he wasn't exactly the best at subtlety, but somehow he always seemed to mention it without mentioning it.

"I don't care, Ben. I just don't like third wheeling- it sucks. So, how long is it gonna take for your crippled ass to get down here?"

Ben laughed, he was saved from the inevitable dreaded conversation for the second time in one day, "You have one week, Kasprak. After that, I'll come to save your scrawny ass from our best friends. If you don't get over your paranoia by then, I'll be there to fix it- even though we both know there's nothing to be fixed."

Eddie cracked a grin, "Benjamin Hanscom, hero of hypothetical non-situations. I owe you one for healing extra quick. I know you did it just for me," he joked.

He looked up and noticed Bill had started around the porch looking slightly confused, "Is that my broken boy, Ben?"

Eddie laughed, "Who else would it be?"

"Tell him I miss him. But, we should get moving if we want a spot near the stand."

* * *

The town was adorable. Eddie understood why the boys spoke about their vacations so fondly. There were a few blocks that were residential, but the blocks closest to the beach were all tiny shoppes and stores. Everyone they passed looked friendly, which was a change from the disdainful looks Eddie received in Derry.

Eddie, Stan and Bill walked down the board walk until they reached the steps. Clamoring down, they made their way over towards the lifeguard stand. They laid down their towels and started setting up an umbrella because Bill would likely freckle, then burn to a crisp if they didn't.

They were finally set up and Eddie felt at ease for the first time since they arrived. He only had to go a week without Ben, the sun was just strong enough, and a good song by Troye Sivan was playing softly on Bill's speaker. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"BILLIAM! STANIEL! Do my nearly useless eyes deceive me? Is it really you?", an obnoxious voice jolted Eddie out of his happy place.

He sat up on his towel, just in time to see Stan get jumped on by a lanky figure with a mop of black curls. Eddie turned to Bill, confused, but he found Bill was occupied. A beautiful redhead girl had jumped into Bill arms.

Eddie reveled in the sound of Bills laugh, while he spun the girl around in a hug, "Billy boy, you didn't come back last summer. We missed you."

The other boy had detached himself from Stan and was now on his way to Bill. Eddie stared at him; he had sharp features and massive glasses. But, the most alarming thing about him was him outfit. He wore the signature red lifeguard trunks with a bright blue and yellow Hawaiian shirt.

Bill and the boy embraced, while the girl gave Stan a welcoming hug. Eddie had never felt more out of place.

He considered laying back down and closing his eyes, when another boy holding two trays of assorted coffee drinks jogged up to them.

The boy had dark skin and quite possibly the most beautiful smile that Eddie had ever seen. He looked like some sort of lifeguard god and he stopped at the end of Eddie's towel, "Hey! I'm Mike." He crouched down to set the coffees on the sand and smiled, "You must be Eddie." He stood and offered Eddie a hand up, which he gladly took, "Bill and Stan mentioned you'd be coming."

Eddie smiled, "Nice to meet you."

Mike turned his attention to the others, giving both Stan and Bill hugs.

The girl looked at Eddie and gave him a large smile, "Hi, I'm Bev. I've heard a lot about you!"

Eddie looked at Bill for a split second, "Same here," he ignored the jealousy in his stomach and smiled back.

Going into Freshman year, Bill had dated Beverly Marsh all summer. He'd been so in love with her for months after, he didn't stop talking about their summer fling for about a year. Eddie wondered if he was still hung up on her.

He didn't think so, considering the amount of time Bill and Stan spent together, recently. 

The dark haired boy slung a lanky arm around Bev's shoulder, "Wotcher, mate?" He gave Eddie a lopsided smile.

Bev rolled her eyes, "This is Richie, ignore his shitty accents."

Eddie felt uneasy for some reason, but still tried his best to be friendly, "Hey, I'm Eddie. I think Stan and Bill have mentioned you before."

He scoffed, looking highly amused. Eddie felt like he was missing the joke, "They better have-" Mike cut him off, "You left the stand without anyone on it, Rich. Kids could be drowning. I'm off duty, so get back to work."

Richie smiled cheekily and saluted Mike, "Aye Aye, Captain. But first, did you bring my drink?"

Mike rolled his eyes and handed Rich what looked like a frappuccino with far too many toppings, "You're a god among men, Mikey."

Richie took an alarmingly large gulp of the sugary drink then spoke with his mouth full, "Nice to meet ya, Eds. Hope you're planning on stopping by the party later. Duty calls." He winked and gave the group a final salute before jogging back to the lifeguard stand.

Eddie ignored the irritation at the nickname "Eds" not wanting to cause a scene in front of his new friends. Instead of giving a snarky response, he looked at the four people in front of him and simply asked, "What party?"

Bill shrugged, "There's always a party going on around here. If you're down we can go to whichever one they're going to." He nodded at Bev and Mike.

Bev smiled, "You wanna come to the bonfire?" 

Eddie didn't know that his answer would set the course for an entire summer of wild mishaps, "Sure."

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

In Beverly Marsh's eyes the summer kicked off with a minor inconvenience. Much like the boys, Bev didn't have any idea what she was getting herself into when she became a part of the losers club. You see, Beverly Marsh had just had one hell of a year. It started off pretty terribly, but she had worked her way up. After painful hours of sewing and measuring and packaging and selling she had managed to save up enough money to move out of one toxic home into another home (though the later was only toxic _smelling_ as her pluming was awful). By the beginning of the summer she had never been in a better place. However, her "minor inconvenience" would soon spiral into something much much more. It would carry on for the rest of the summer, and influence several of her important decisions after the summer ended. 

Bev was hoping that her life would carry on rebuilding itself, as it had been for the past year. That was not the case. In fact, by the end of the summer, her life would nearly be in the same disaster mode it had been a year ago. She didn't know what this summer had in store for her. So, she carried on blissfully unaware of the repercussions that her actions would soon have. Beverly Marsh was no fool, it wasn't her fault that she was ignorant to the future. No one could have seen it coming.

* * *

Watching the sunset at Paradise Beach was somewhat of a magical thing. At least, thats what Beverly Marsh claimed.

She was sprawled out at the end of Eddie's towel, her heart shaped sunglasses lowered to the very tip of her nose, "God, don't you just love the sky?" she asked breathily.

The three boys around her nodded, not that she would have known, for she didn't so much as glance away from the fading sun. 

"I just wish we were on the rooftop." She said finally, as she turned to face Eddie, Stan and Bill.

Stan laughed, taking off his own sunglasses, "You're still on that whole rooftop thing, huh?"

Bill and Eddie both looked mildly confused, but she responded, "Everything is just prettier higher up."

"Are _you_ high, Bev?" Bill asked, sincerely and she laughed in her own bubbly way.

"Not yet. Do you smoke, Eddie? I know Stan hates it, but Bill used to cyph with me... Are you into it?" She was genuinely curious, but Eddie felt mildly embarrassed.

He had only smoked twice and while he had enjoyed the light feeling, he was nowhere near experienced with weed, "I have before. I like it better than drinking to be honest."

This was news to the other boys, "Really?" Stan asked while Bill knitted his brows together, "If I knew that I would score you some weed so that you don't have to sit there sober while the rest of us drink."

Eddie shrugged, it wasn't as if his friends were drunk every day, maybe once or twice a month they would hang out at Bill's house and have a few beers, "I mean... we don't exactly party often, Bill." He didn't know how quickly that would change.

"Well, I plan to full on corrupt you. With your consent, of course." Bev grinned while hooking her sunglasses onto the string of her yellow bikini.

It had taken Eddie about two hours on the beach to realize that Bev wasn't a lifeguard like Mike and Richie. The two boys had walked back and forth from the stand to the towels every hour, alternating breaks, while Bev stayed there, lounging and completely destroying her pale freckled skin through exposure to the harsh sun. 

"You boys should swing by the apartment before the bonfire. Plenty of weed for you there, Eddie."

Stan laughed again, and Eddie realized all at once, how much more at ease he seemed to be there, "I'm sure there is."

"You have your own apartment?" Eddie asked and Bev shook her head.

"Not entirely mine. Richie and I moved in earlier this year, Stan helped us set it up, back in October actually." Eddie briefly remembered Stan driving down to his summer house that fall.

Bev gave a solemn sort of smile, "It's pretty crappy, but better than where I used to live. Plus, I can't expect much more from a lifeguards salary and Etsy sales." Bev had explained earlier that she sewed her own clothes and sold them on Etsy and other websites to a pretty decent following of fashion lovers. But for some reason, Bill and Stan shared a look at the last part of her statement.

"I think it's cool that you guys have your own place," Eddie started, but he was cruelly interrupted by Richie Tozier, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, on instinct, he tired to suppress a groan.

It wasn't that Eddie didn't like him. He was just...a lot. Eddie understood fully what Stan and Bill had been talking about when they said  _most_ of their friends were easy to get along with. It seemed as if Richie had made it his life mission to make Eddie as uncomfortable as possible in their brief moments together thus far.

"Howdy, y'all." His Hawaiian shirt had been shed off and Eddie was left looking at the light definition of muscle on his torso, "How're you pretty ladies doin'?"

He gave Bev an unceremoniously dramatic kiss on the forehead and made his move to do the same to Stan, who immediately covered his face. Richie shrugged and moved on to Bill instead, who accepted the kiss graciously. He then locked eyes with Eddie, and luged forward, making him his final victim. 

The wetness on his forehead made Eddie cringe as he shoved Richie off, hoping his red face could be mistaken for too much sun.

Bev smacked Richie's leg, as Mike joined them once again, "You're going to scare him off, Rich. Some of us want to actually make more friends."

Mike nodded as well, beaming down at all of them, "Yea, Rich, pretty sure Eddie doesn't want your germs."

Richie responded by smacking another wet kiss to Mike's cheek, "You want my germs, right Mikey?"

Mike fake shuddered but ruffled Richie's hair nonetheless, "Of course."

The beach had cleared out, lifeguards were off duty once the sun set. So the group made their move to leave. 

Bill unfolded the umbrella while Stan and Eddie folded up towels.

"So boys, you're coming over before the bonfire right?" Bev asked as the six of them walked up the sand towards the boardwalk.

Bill and Eddie nodded, "Great, Stan can show you guys how to get there."

"Inviting people into my home without my permission, Beverly?" Richie earned himself another smack.

Mike, Bev and Richie began teetering off the the left of the boardwalk, while Eddie, Stan and Bill went right.

"Be there at seven, okay? It'll be fun I swear!"

Eddie believed her.

* * *

 

Beverly Marsh hoped this summer would be better than her last. 

She was not very good at dealing with serious issues and the previous year had been filled with serious issues. 

Things seemed better. She wasn't stuck living with her father. She wasn't stuck lifeguarding. And she wasn't stuck wondering if Bill was okay. 

She didn't mind that Bill seemed uninterested in her romantically, she hardly had time for that anyway. She was just glad that he was back at the beach with them, where he belonged.

Bev liked having the extra bodies around, it made everything feel a hell of a lot less lonely. She felt as if there was no such thing as too many friends, another reason why she was glad Eddie had joined them this year.

He was snarky and quick witted. In the hours that they had spent talking, he had challenged her conversations, but not nearly as vehemently as he had challenged Richie's. He was not at all what she had expected when she first laid eyes on his small frame. But, she should have known better than to judge a book by its cover.

Richie seemed to be eager for another friend as well, "I like him. He's feisty, we could definitely use a little more fire around here. Denbrough seemed down to you, right?"

The two of them were lounging on the worn out peach couch that Mike had found on the side of the road. Bev's head was in his lap while they passed a cigarette back and forth.

"I think thats to be expected. When's the last time you saw him?" She spoke solemnly while he ran hand through her hair.

Richie blinked for a long time, "I guess I've only seen him twice after the funeral... I visited him in the fall and he was still pretty off. Then over the winter when he drove down here- that weekend you were looking at schools with Mike. He was a little more himself then."

Bev blew smoke straight into the air, "It fucking sucks."

"He's better than he was then, but still. He's not the old Bill." Richie took the cig with greedy fingers, he always had a hard time controlling himself after not smoking during his shift.

She stood a little too quickly, "He's not gonna be the old Bill. His brother died, Rich."

"I'm well fucking aware of that, Bev." He snapped back, almost shoving the cigarette back intoner hands before he stood.

"I'm gonna hop in the shower before they get here.", in true Richie fashion, he stormed off to the bathroom with a dramatic door slam.

Bev sank back into the couch finishing off the cig before snuffing it on the already ruined couch arm. A fight with Richie wasn't uncommon. It was pretty typical actually, spending so much time with someone lead to lots of bickering, especially with unresolved tension in the air. Bev followed him to the bathroom, hoping they could blow off some steam together.

* * *

 

Mike showed up while Richie and Bev were still in the bathroom, so he let himself in with the spare key they had given him. The apartment was a studio, so he was glad they finally learned to fool around somewhere other than the couch or the mattress that was half hidden behind a black bamboo wall divider. Over the past two years he had grown used to it, but that didn't mean the thought of Richie and Bev together didn't gross him out.

They were both like his siblings and he just couldn't shake the feeling that they only hooked up out of convenience. It happened very infrequently ever since they moved in together, but it still happened. From what Mike had gathered, it was only after they argued over something important. 

He sighed and started to clean up a little, he had a feeling Stan would not be happy with the state of their apartment. Halfway through making the bed, Bev exited the bathroom still dressed in her yellow bikini and looking only slightly disheveled, with a new hickey on her collar bone. She jumped when she saw him, "Oh my god!"

"No, it's just me." Mike deadpanned as he finished folding the comforter. 

Bev grinned sheepishly, "Not much of a difference there, then." she looked around, "What are you cleaning for?"

Mike shrugged, moving on the the kitchen section, or what he liked to call  _the real disaster zone_. "Stan isn't gonna like this mess."

She made to help him throw out some takeout boxes, "Still crushing on him?" she asked slyly.

Mike scrunched his nose, "Still crushing on Bill?" Bev turned around.

"Hardly." She said bitterly. 

"Is that why you're hooking up with Rich again?"

She blushed, "No Mike. I'm not hooking up with Richie because I still like Bill. Thats twisted logic."

Mike ran the sink and started to scrub down the dishes, there weren't too many, Bev and Richie opted for paper plates most days, "You and Richie _exclusively_ use twisted logic."

"You're mad." She stated the obvious, and bumped his hip so that she could do the dishes instead.

He sighed, "Im not mad, just... fed up. I thought it was over with. It's really not helping either of you."

Bev shrugged, feeling much more embarrassed than she had been moments before, "Its just comfortable, ya know? I thought it was over with too, but Richie and I are too needy. Us living together is dangerous. Because neither of us wants to be alone." Mike knew she meant  _alone_ on a larger scale. Richie and Bev had both been thrown into the world by themselves in a way, it was only natural that they wanted someone to be with.

It was just easier for them to pretended they should be together.

"So no feelings for Bill?", Mike asked as he tried to wipe ashes off of the couch. 

Bev shook her head, honestly.

"And no feelings for Rich?" 

She shook her head answering honestly, once again.

Mike sighed, "So then, what are you doing, Bev?" she shrugged, moving over to her closet, which acted a bit more like her hamper.

"Right now I'm getting changed. In five minutes I'll probably be lighting a blunt." she dug through her clothes, pulling out an oversized grey band shirt and some tights.

Mike laughed, the tension in the air was gone. He was just concerned for his friends, Bev knew that. As she pulled on her fishnets she asked, "You never answered about Stan. Still having unresolved feelings?" 

Mike shook his head, "Nah, we ended things better than you and Bill did. Tied up all our lose ends. Sure, I care about him, but not like that anymore. Especially seeing him and Bill today...I don't think I'd ever want to get in the way of that."

Bev laughed, "You noticed that too? I thought I was losing my mind."

The bathroom door opened once again. Richie stepped out wearing an all black outfit, save for his short sleeved purple button up covered in a loud 80's pattern. 

He rubbed a towel against his wet hair, "Hey Mike." 

Mike and Bev shared a look as he threw the towel back into the bathroom and opened up the fridge, pulling out a slice cold pizza and scarfing it down. 

"Who's rolling tonight?"

* * *

 

Bev opened the door grinning widely, and Eddie was hit with the overwhelming smell of weed.

He noticed Stan wince to his right, but he entered anyway. 

The apartment was almost exactly what Eddie had pictured, small, dark and too loud. A song by The Cure was blasting in the background. 

The second the door closed, he felt a slim arm around his shoulder, Richie was beaming down at him. Eddie noticed that there was a purple mark on his neck, which hadn't been there a few hours ago.

Bill noticed it too, "Who's the lucky lady?"

Richie laughed, "Don't assume now, Billy. Mike could have given this to me."

Mike snorted from the other side of the room, "I would have done a better job then that!"

Eddie felt the weight lift from his shoulder and was suddenly colder than he should have been.

"Lets see your masterpiece then, sir. Have at it." Richie had all but flown across the room into Mikes space. 

The two play wrested while Bev rolled her eyes, "Okay, who wants what? We have a pretty good selection of drinks and an even better selection of weed."

She lead them to the kitchen, which was only three steps to the left, and Eddie eyed the fridge as she opened it. It was covered in polaroids and drawings that looked vaguely familiar. There was a picture that was sketched to look like a side profile of Bev's face, Eddie saw the messy signature in the bottom corner, it was Bill's. He grinned and she shut the fridge, holding some beers and a bottle of tequila. 

"Still your favorite, Stan?" Stan let out a laugh, "As long as you have lime and salt."

Bev winked, "You just so happened to name two out of the three foods Richie and I own." 

She reached up to get some shot glasses from the top shelf and the collar of her oversized tee fell off of her shoulder. Eddie noticed she had a mark that matched Richie's.

"Eddie, you want a shot, or should I just roll for you?" Eddie looked at her collar bone and back to Richie, who Mike had thrown over his shoulder. He then looked back at Stan and Bill, who were absolutely standing purposely close enough to touch. 

He had a feeling he was going to need a little help to get through this week without Ben, "You can pour me one too. I think I'll see what it feels like to get cross faded."

He heard a cheer from across the room, as Bill clapped him on the bak and Stan looked confused.

Richie and Mike gathered around the counter as well and the six of them licked the salt off of their hands before downing the shot and biting into their own wedges of lime. 

Collectively they all let out some sort of a cheer, although Richies sounded more like a laugh. Eddie took it all in, feeling slightly uncomfortable and contented, all the same.

And so, the longest night of Eddie's life kicked off with a bang.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Richie Tozier was 17 years old that summer and gloriously self-destructive. Much like Bev, he had just finished barreling through an awful year. Although, unlike Bev, he did nothing in attempt to prevent himself from spiraling- instead he let himself fall. No house, no health insurance, no future plans and no problem with any of that. He had his job, his friends and enough weed to keep him in a permanent state of semi high.

 

It could be said that much like Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier was at an all-time low. But, Richie didn’t consider himself to be any lower than he’d always been. Over the course of the summer he had many opportunities to change that, and though he took advantage of a few of these well…

 

Like I said Richard Tozier was tragically self-destructive, but more on that later.

 

* * *

 

 

Richie was seldom caught frowning in the company of Bill Denbrough.

 The pair could have close to intense arguments and still have a hint of amusement in their voices and a tug at the corner of their lips. They just played off of each other’s goofiness and complimented each other in such a way that only brothers could. Richie loved being around Bill, because his smile was infectious.

 But as of present, Richie was not smiling at his best friend. He was, in fact, almost ready to toss him out of a window. Which would be difficult, considering they were walking down the deserted main street.

 “Three god-damn shots and a beer!” Richie was incredulous and speaking to no one in particular, “How the fuck-“

 “Rich, knock it off. He apologized.” Bev’s voice called from behind him, he turned around.

 Bill was slung over her shoulder, a goofy grin plastered on his intoxicated face, “I didn’t mean to flush them I swear, Rich.”

 Richie blinked furiously as he heard Eddie giggle somewhere to his right, everything was already kind of hazy and that damn sound made the world go blurry.

 He soon realized that the additional fuzziness wasn’t due to Eddies laugh, but to a drunk Stan Uris knocking his glasses off of his face.

 Two large blobs knocked into each other to his left and Stan murmured, “Whoops, sorry Rich.”

 Richie blinked again, unsure of where they had fallen on the dark pavement, he was too high for this, “Mother fucker…You know, Denbrough, this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t flushed my fucking contacts you drunk slut.”

 Eddie’s giggles started again, “Drunk slut?” He was closer than Richie realized, right next to him, actually. And Richie really wished he could see what the hell was happening as more giggles erupted from everyone in the group.

 “Here ya go,” Richie felt his glasses slide onto his face from someone below him.

 He looked down at Eddie who was very much in his space, and seemingly decently intoxicated. Richie liked that he wasn’t as uptight as he’d been that morning. He seemed like he was having fun, and Richie got a little selfish thrill knowing that he had played a small role in making that happen, (although some could definitely be contributed to his two shots of tequila and a hit from Richie’s own blunt).

 Eddie had been kind of closed off at first, but Richie wore him down with a few mom jokes and an inappropriate amount of touches for someone he had just met. By the time they left the apartment, Eddie had been calling Richie a ‘blind want-to-be stoner’ with a glimmer in his eye.

 Richie grinned, “Well thanks, doll. I was getting tired of not seeing that pretty little face.”

 Eddie just rolled his eyes, stepping back out of Richie’s space.

 Richie turned around to see what the laughter had been about and realized that Stan had been impersonating him with a large pair of sunglasses on, feeling around Bill’s chest and Bev’s hair as if he were blind.

 “Hardy har har. When did you become such a menace, Stanny?” Richie laughed, enjoying the rare sight of his most responsible friend letting loose.

 Stan was by no means the stick in the mud strangers had mistaken him for, due to his clean-cut look, but he defiantly didn’t indulge in shenanigans as often as Bev, Richie and Bill.

 “I learned from the best.” Stan said with a smug look, his hand still firmly placed on Bill’s bicep.

 Richie raised a brow, but didn’t say anything, instead putting on his best Scottish accent, “Tha’ ya did, Stanleh.”

 Bev groaned under Bill’s weight, “Stan, you gotta keep him up. He’s way too heavy for me.” Without waiting for a response, she tilted to the left, unloading all of Bill’s mass onto Stan’s shoulders.

 He didn’t seem to mind.

 She skipped a few steps forward to Eddie, who was suddenly looking much more bitter than he had just moments before, “I hope Mike remembered the oreos. I’m really craving double stuffed.”

 As if on cue, Mike Hanlon: knight in shining armor, emerged from the 7/11 brandishing a cure for the munchies, rather than a sword. In Richie’s expert opinion, sour cream and onion chips were much more impressive than any medieval weapons. But, that could have been the weed talking.

 Eddie was the first to Mike, nearly snatching the bag out of his hands. He grabbed a water bottle and the back of pretzels and made his little way over to Bill and Stan.

 “Here, Bill. Try and sober up a little so that you don’t fall asleep before we get to the beach.” Eddie held out the opened water bottle and Bill took it with unsteady hands. Stan held it to his mouth instead and Eddie deflated a little more.

 Richie watched the interaction in awe, “The kid is six feet tall. This isn’t even close to his first time drinking… How is he still such a massive lightweight?”

 Bev giggled sifting through the shopping bag as she sat on the curb next to Mike, “God had to give him some flaws, right?”

 Mike snorted and popped an oreo into his mouth. Richie and Beverly looked at him in awe, “Why’d you just eat that?”

 “Oreos are vegan,” Eddie entered the conversation, the same slightly sour look on his face, “Mike told me before when I was asking how he survived on that diet without junk food.”

 Bev’s face contorted in horror, “What the heck are they made out of then?”

 Mike shrugged, “Chocolatey goodness.” he offered them around the group and Richie took six, and sat down next to Bev. He looked across the street at Stan and Bill while he munched.

 The pair was sitting on the opposite curb, sides pressed together, Bill’s head on Stan’s shoulder, while Stan held the bottle of water to Bill’s mouth.

 “How long has that been going on?” Richie directed the question at Eddie, leaning back on his hands and looking up at him for a change.

 Eddie rolled his eyes, “According to Ben it hasn’t been going on. But, they’ve been awfully close all year.”

 Mike spoke, clearly noticing the sore spot and trying to change the subject, “Ben’s the one who broke his leg right?” Eddie nodded, “He’s getting his cast off in a week, so he’ll be joining us soon enough.”

 Bev hummed, clearly not as interested in this as she was in the situation across the street. She leaned her head on Richie’s shoulder, the proximity made him smile and he gestured to her bag, she handed it over knowing exactly what he needed, “So did either of them say anything…”

 She trailed off nodding across the street and Richie dug through her extensive collection of lipsticks, clothing swatches and what would be a suspicious zip-lock bag to most, finally pulling out a cigarette. She lit it for him with her sparkly hot pink bic. He liked it when they were in tune like that. It was getting rarer and rarer.

 He inhaled sharply, staring at Eddie.

They both knew what she was really asking.

Had Bill come out?

It was a good question. One that Richie was sure he knew the answer to. One that Richie was sure Eddie needed the answer to.

Eyes never leaving Eddie, he blew out a stream of smoke.

Eddie shrugged, trying and failing to come across as nonchalant, “Stan came out a year ago. He told us all about how he liked you last summer, Mike. He said all you guys knew.”

Mike smiled fondly at the memories. But that wasn’t the answer Bev was looking for, she opened her mouth to pry again. She really could be quite the gossip, Richie recalled the hours she and Stan blabbered on over the phone.

Richie wasn’t particularly interested in talking about Bill all night while he sat twenty feet away, “Yea, no one was particularly surprised about that one.” He said flatly. The topic of coming out was not one that Richie was at all fond of.

Mike spoke, “We should get a move on if we want to even make it to the bonfire before it gets shut down.”

Richie leaned forward, gently shaking Bev off, “Big Bill! How ya feeling, fella?” He made his way across the street to Stan and Bill, who both looked a bit better than they had five minutes ago.

They albeit leapt apart at the sound of his voice, “Much better, Rich. Sorry about the contacts, they were just so slimey…”

Stan grimaced, standing up to adjust his pants. Richie offered Bill a hand up, which he gladly took, standing much steadier than he had before.

“See,” Mike said, crossing the street to meet them, “All you needed was a little break and a little water. Let’s try to pace ourselves for the rest of the night.”

Richie laughed, knowing that Mike was trying to be reasonable, but also knowing that across the street Beverly and Eddie were smoking another joint.

“All right, losers, let’s roll out.”

 

* * *

 

 

When the finally stumbled onto the beach, the bonfire was roaring.

 About forty or so kids were scattered a few yards from the lifeguard stand, around a burning pile of wood.

 “PARTY’S HERE!” Richie hollered and was greeted with a roar of approval from the people he was jogging to.

 Eddie didn’t know what to do. Parties were something he had steered clear of ever since a disastrous encounter on Halloween in freshman year. He looked to his left and wished he hadn’t.

 Bill and Stan were laughing to themselves, sharing a new bottle of beer, closer than they needed to be. Eddie wondered when the germs had stopped bothering Stan.

 Feeling uncertain, he followed Richie. Mike was preoccupied spinning in a circle with Bev on his back, both of them laughing wildly.

 He made his way over to the bonfire, the heat greeted him before anything else.

 Richie was standing with his arm looped around a blonde girl’s shoulder, she was wearing a red lifeguard hoodie and handing him a red solo cup.

 Eddie teetered on the edge of the fire for a moment before the sound of Richie’s voice permeated his thoughts once again, “Everyone, this is Eddie,” he had his solo cup raised in Eddies direction, “Give him a warm welcome, it’s his first time in Paradise.”

 From what Eddie could tell, these kids would cheer at anything, because there were several shouts of approval from the group.

 Someone handed him another drink and Eddie realized he was still too sober to deal with such a new social situation.

 Bev and Mike came to his side and Bev looked at his drink, “You want that? I can light up with you instead.”

 Eddie looked at the drink and shrugged, “I’m gonna be honest, I’ve only smoked a few times. So, for now I’m a little more comfortable drinking.”

 He didn’t need the drink, it was only a beer but he was already feeling light and floaty. He drank it anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

Time was drifting at an odd pace, as it tended to do when you were drifting under the influence.

 There were claps on the backs and informal introductions and Eddie found himself successfully distracted from everything he wanted to be distracted from.

 He wasn’t a fan of the music, rap wasn’t something he was too fond of and it was blaring. But he was a fan of the way Bev was dancing to it, twirling by herself, offbeat and happy.

 He stood from a log he didn’t know he was sitting on and joined her to the back of the crowd. It was a bolder move than Eddie usually made; he wasn’t one to go to parties, let alone dance with girls at them. But, he had already become very comfortable with Beverly, and the alcohol and weed were certainly making things easier for him.

 He grabbed her hand and she giggled. She jumped up and down with him until he tried to spin her, failing miserably because she was about an inch taller than him.

 They both collapsed into peals of laughter and Eddie continued to forget that Bill and Stan had disappeared the moment they stepped on the beach.

 The stars were shrouded in a fog of sorts. It took Eddie a few seconds to realize that was because of the smoke.

 Richie walked over with the blonde girl, interrupting the dance.

 He squeezed his wiry frame between the dancing pair, pressing himself almost flush to Eddie and spoke, “Mind if I cut in? Estelle wants a word with our Bevie.”

 Richie was leaning down to Eddie, almost blocking his view of Bev, but he could just see her pick up her bag as the blonde girl whispered something that made Bev frown.

 “I guess… what’s that about?” Eddie pried, feeling loose as Richie swayed in front of him.

 The taller boy grinned, “Estelle is a client of Bev’s. She’s also a life guard. Cute huh?”

 It wasn’t a question. It was a challenge. And Eddie was too drunk for it. He was about to fail miserably.

Eddie shrugged, finishing off his drink, “I’m not really into blondes.”

 “Red heads then, right?” Richie had an infuriatingly sly look on his face and Eddie prayed to whatever god was listening that this stranger didn’t know what he was trying so hard to hide.

 “You mean Bev?” He wasn’t convincing enough. His voice cracked and Richie smirked. He hoped his breathing wasn’t as shallow as it felt.

 “No, not Bev- our other resident ginger B.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and his casual tone made Eddie’s blood boil, “You have a crush on Big Bill too right?”

 Eddies world was crumbling and he couldn’t make a sound, but Richie was gladly jabbering on.

 “I’m starting to think it’s some sorta rite of passage to fall for the fucker… Bev was head over heels for the guy. They only hooked up a few times, but she gushed about him for weeks. Obviously, she’s over it now, but Christ, did ya see the look on her face when she saw how hot he’s gotten.”

 Richie didn’t notice that he was more or less talking to himself, “Now Stanny- I’m surprised he didn’t have higher standards, but have you ever seen a kid so in love?” He laughed, “Besides from looking in the mirror, I guess.”

 Richie hadn’t meant to be malicious. He was high. And he was perpetually jealous of Bill. He was also _maybe_ trying to get a rise out of Eddie, in a twisted attempt to see if he was right about his hunch. He was teasing for entirely selfish reasons, he knew there was no positive outcome, but like I said, Richie Tozier was incredibly self-destructive.

 

And once he started talking, he couldn’t stop.

 

But Eddie knew none of this. He simply knew that this boy had uncovered his darkest secret in mere hours and was _making fun of him for it._

 He was still going, as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, “Tell me, what is it about Billy that makes your knees quiver? Gotta hand it to him, he has some charm if he can rope three-’’

 Eddie managed to regain control of his mouth, “I’m not gay,” he snapped, “Especially not for Bill.”

 Richie put the cigarette to his lips and lit it with that tacky lighter once again, “Whatever you say, Eds.”

“Don’t call me that!” His voice was shrill and he tried to get a grip, but it was easier said than done.

His breath was shaky and far too thin. He felt like he was having an asthma attack and then he felt stupid. Because his asthma was fake. So, Eddie just stood there breathing in and out while Richie abused his lungs.

_One…two…three…_ inhale. _One…two…three…_ exhale. _One…two…three… one…two…three…one…two…three…_

He wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, but they had long since stopped dancing when Mike greeted them with a blissful grin. Eddie wished he could reciprocate it.

“Hey, guys. You seen Bill or Stan?” he sounded genuinely concerned.

Richie grinned around his cig, “They ran off the second we got here. They’re probably in the dunes, sucking face.”

Mike frowned, “Well, I’m gonna look for them. You should get Bev out of here, Rich. Someone heard sirens…said the cops were on their way.”

Richie’s whole demeanor changed and he dropped his cigarette, “Okay. Call me when you find them.” He looked down to Eddie, “C’mon, Eds. Looks like the party’s over.”

He walked off, expecting Eddie to follow him. And Eddie wanted to do nothing less than sprint in the opposite direction, but his body was feeling the toxic mix of anxiety, alcohol and weed and his brain wasn’t working. He was scared if he let Richie walk off, he would be stranded on the beach for the rest of his miserable little life, so he followed the douche.

 

* * *

 

 

Bev was making a drug deal in the dunes when the sirens got closer. She pocketed the cash and zipped up her bag, quickly turning on her heel.

She tried not to panic, it was always worse when she got in her own head, so she merely sped walk for a minute. However, the second she heard the tires screech she took off in a sprint.Someone was calling her name. She moved faster and crashed squarely into the guilty party, “Rich,” she breathed out.

“Hey Ringwald, a little faster maybe?” She started moving again, barely registering that Eddie was also running alongside them.

There were kids scattering every which way and the music had shut off. It was pitch black on the beach; the cops had put out the fire and the only source of light was from a shitty streetlamp on the board walk. The only thing that could be heard now was chaos.

“Richie!” A deeper voice called out from a few feet ahead. It was Mike, gesturing wildly for them to hurry up, “Stan and Bill are out already. Hurry!” They finally reached him, he was holding up the wire fence that stretched from the bottom of the board walk to the sand.

Bev was the first to throw herself under it. It smelled awful and the sand was wet and cold but she crawled like her life depended on it. Because it did.

Stan was holding up the fence on the other side and she slipped out, hearing the other boys struggling behind her. There was another cop car driving towards the boardwalk.

The second she saw Mike stand up she yelped, “Book it!” And the six of them took off into the dimly lit street, leaving the blaring sirens behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. I had a bit of writers block, so this chapter is shorter than normal, but it's a bit of a filler. The good stuff is coming soon!

Bill Denbrough could definitely be added on to the list of people who had made it through a shitty year. Having a brother who recently died, was a difficult thing. Especially when it wasn’t recent enough for those around him to still be mourning. Bill wasn’t over his death, and while that would be considered normal… it seemed to him that everyone else had forgotten.

He still felt as if he couldn’t get out of bed most mornings. But, his parents woke up and went about their business casually. He was suffering, but his year had been salvaged by his friends. The only thing that really kept him going was knowing that Richie and Eddie and Bev and Ben and Mike and especially Stan were all there. They were there to support him and to make him laugh and to supply him with too much alcohol and to love him, and that is what got Bill Denbrough to wake up.

He didn’t think that their friendship could possibly make things worse for him. Their friendship was supposed to bring him joy, not more problems.

* * *

 

Bill Denbrough came to at 4pm, half naked and half impressed at his ability to perform what seemed to be human hibernation. He was groggy as hell, but by some miraculous act, seemed to have slept through his hangover.

And he was starving. He groaned, stretching out as he sat up in the large empty bed. Frowning at the empty space next to him, he tied his sweats a little tighter and padded out of the room, rubbing some sleep from his eyes.

Stan was in the kitchen, looking through one of the top cabinets. His hair was damp and he was wearing what Bill suspected to be his own sweatshirt. Bill walked over to him and boldly wrapped his arms around Stan’s thin waist, laughing slightly when the other boy jumped.

“I was starting to think I should call an ambulance,” Stan tried to conceal the fondness in his voice, but Bill heard it. He had been able to tell the difference between bitter Stan and fake bitter Stan for years.

Bill hummed while he rested his chin on Stan’s shoulder, “You probably should have called two hours ago, I was asleep for thirteen hours.” Stan wasn’t reaching up anymore, his hands had come down to hold Bill’s forearms, he leaned into the touch.

Bill thought it felt nice to hold him, it felt right. He inhaled the smell of Stan’s freshly washed hair, realizing he had been holding him for a moment too long. He reluctantly pulled away and started to make himself a coffee, “So, wh-what are you cooking?” he tried to be causal, but he was nervous.

Bill couldn’t exactly remember the entire night. He knew something had happened but he wasn’t sure what.

He certainly had his hunches.

“Pancakes. I can put in chocolate chips if you want,” Stan sounded a little stiff.

“That’d be great, thanks.” Bill didn’t like how suddenly the atmosphere had changed to awkward.

He finished up making his coffee by pouring entirely too much caramel creamer into it, and pushed himself up on the counter so that he could watch Stan work, “Where’s Eddie?”

Stan let out an annoyed sound, “He’s been on the phone with Ben since he woke up three hours ago.” He knew that Stan loved Eddie, but he had no patience for his antics sometimes. Ben, however, admired Eddie’s dramatics and could probably sit through a lecture on the history of Nebraska if Eddie was the speaker.

Bill laughed, “What the hell could they have to talk about? Eddie was on the phone with him right before the party too. Unless I completely blacked out, it couldn’t have been that eventful.”

Stan looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, “So you didn’t black out?”

Bill felt his face heat up. “I m-mean...I’m a little f-fuzzy, but I remember mostly everything. I have a f-few gaps though,” He took a long sip of coffee, thinking long and hard about what to say next, “There’s something I think I remember. B-but, I don’t know if I dreamed it up.”

He didn’t have to look up from his coffee to know that Stan was staring at him expectantly. “What’s that?” he tried to sound confident, but Bill could hear how nervous he was. That eased his own nerves enough for him to speak.

“I kissed you.”

Stan just looked down to flip his pancake.

Bill’s heart did a tumblesault. He tried to find some way to recover, “Or I m-muh-maybe I didn’t. Guess it was just a dream.” he let out an uneasy laugh. He could have sworn it had happened. He could have sworn Stan felt the same way.

Stan put the pancakes on a plate and turned off the stove, “You’re dreaming about kissing me?” “I...no?”

Bill wanted to sink into the ground, instead he hid his face with his mug. Stan laughed, a short, light sound and Bill looked up.

He was closer than he had been a moment ago.

“You didn’t kiss me, Bill. But, you tried to.” Bill looked back down, his cheeks were burning. That was definitely worse, he tried to make a move on Stan when he was drunk and got turned down, then assumed that he hadn’t been rejected.

“Oh my g-g-god… I’m s-so sorry, Stan.” Bill wanted to melt into the floor. God, he hated how he sounded when he was nervous. It was like he was a little kid again.

“Bill,” Stan’s voice was soft, it was rarely ever this soft so Bill looked back up, “I wanted you to kiss me.”

He felt his lips tug and Stan kept talking, “Just not like that. Not when we were drun-” Bill cut him off.

He couldn’t wait; it had already taken him far too long to gather the courage to kiss Stanley Uris. Bill grabbed his cheek and pulled him forward. Stan, while surprised managed to tilt upward to meet their lips.

It was sweet and chaste and a little frantic but it wasn’t nervous. It was sure and steady and everything they both needed.

When he pulled back Stan was grinning and Eddie was standing in the doorway.

There was a strangled little noise and the pair nearly snapped their necks to see what had happened.

Eddie was a mess.

His eyes were swollen and his face was red. A voice called out from his phone, “What happened? Eddie, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Eddie looked back at his phone, “Nothing, Bill’s up,” he rasped out, “You guys want to talk to Ben?”

He didn’t bother looking up to see Stan shake his head, but Bill cleared his throat, “Sure, sure,” but he didn’t move from his seat on the counter.

Eddie walked over with his head down, making a face at Ben, who was probably looking for some answers. He placed the phone in Bill’s hand without looking up, but they all knew he had been crying. Stan and Bill just didn’t know why. “I’m gonna shower. I had a pretty rough night… I’m um happy for you guys.”

He sounded like he was in pain and Stan made an awkward agreeing noise as Eddie hurried out of the room. 

“Uhh I finally calmed him down. What just happened?” The wonderful sound of Ben Hanscom’s voice broke the uncomfortable silence.  

* * *

 

Eddie knew he shouldn’t be upset.

They were his friends- he should be happy for them.

But, his life was falling apart at a rapid rate, he should be allowed to cry a little.

So, he did.

He cried in the shower, desperately trying to scrub off the past 24 hours.

He wasn’t entirely sure how he hadn’t run out of tears yet. Afterall, he had cried himself to sleep and continued to cry on the phone with Ben for several hours.

God, he was pathetic, but this was a big deal for him.

He had never had any freedom before. And now that he had been granted a little, he had completely turned his life upside down in just one day.

He had gotten far too drunk, been confronted by one of his biggest fears after a stranger exposed his secret, run away from the cops and just this morning he had come out to his best friend.

He knew that Ben wasn’t terribly surprised, he had been the one slowly coaxing Eddie to talk about his feelings to begin with. But, it was still a big deal.

Maybe Richie Tozier didn’t think it was a big deal, but for Eddie it was huge.

Ben had been wonderful and understanding. He had listened and given his mild input and Eddie wanted nothing more than to fall into his large welcoming arms.

As he sat on the dirty shower floor, he thought that he just wanted to be held.

But, Ben wouldn’t be able to hold him for a few more days.

So, he cried a little more and hated himself the whole time, cursing every god listening for the existence of Richie Tozier.

He hated his taunting voice, his dumb glasses and his stupid fucking hair. Most importantly, he hated that Richie had forced Eddie to come to terms with problems he didn’t want to face yet.

For the first time in a long time, he wished to be home with his mother. Eddie promptly banished the thought- Sonia Kaspbrak would do nothing to help tis situation. He stood up and started to wash his hair. He needed to collect himself, his tears were finally starting dry up. 

* * *

On the other side of town some tears had just started to flow.

“I can’t fucking believe you,” Beverly Marsh screamed, her voice shrill and wet.

“ _You_ can’t believe _me_? You’re the one who’s risking her entire fucking future just for a few extra bucks!”

Richie hated that she was crying, but Bev needed to hear it. He couldn’t bear to think about losing her again, it had been too close of a call.

“What future Richie?” She had thrown her hands in the air, desperately trying to get her point across, “I need those few extra dollars because you and I?” she pointed between them, “We’re not going anywhere. We have no future.”

It stung a little, sure. But, he knew what she meant- they were stuck. The two of them had nothing left but their dead end jobs.

She kept talking, “Our future is right fucking here in Paradise, slumming it in this apartment until we die, because we don’t have the money for college.”

Her face was screwed up in an attempt to stop the tears, “What would you do if I didn’t make another hundred? You would have to turn off the heat. And, sure we can live without hot water now. But, when the winter comes…” Her voice broke and she covered her face in her hands.

The last winter had been tough. Really though. Both of them were still selling weed, but without the lifeguard gig, Richie had resorted to selling his adderall to keep them warm at night.

They were far too young to be playing grownups.

He took a step closer to her, “Who cares about heat if you’re in jail, Bev?” she let out another sob, “I mean it, you’re on probation for chrissake. When you were arrested... that was the most terrifying call I’ve ever gotten. You’re on thin ice right now, you need to play it safe,” It was odd- Richie telling someone else not to take a risk- but he knew it was important, “The money doesn’t matter if you’re behind bars.”

Bev hated when he was serious, like this. He thought it was all up to him. But, he wasn’t in charge of her, “For fucks sake, Richie. You’re not my boyfriend and you’re not my dad. It’s not your decision to make. I won’t stop selling just because you’re scared. You think I like it? I’m not breaking the law for fun, I’m breaking it because we’re desperate. End of discussion.”

She flopped back on the couch, drying her eyes. Richie flopped next to her, and placed a hand on her leg, drumming his fingers in an oddly calming way. She leaned into his side and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

He wasn’t giving up, but they had exhausted the discussion for the day. So, he pulled her closer.

The fight was far from over, but they could always argue later. And, they certainly would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi to me on Tumblr @finnwolfwolf and be sure to leave a comment with some feed back :) -Katie

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic on here and also my first Reddie story. Planning it out now it kinda looks like its gonna be a slow burn, so get ready. I hope you guys enjoy it- even if you don't please don't hesitate to give feed back! My tumblr is @finnwolfwolf but i follow back @fictional-scribble chat with me there -Katie


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